Lost
by Allyson
Summary: Susan picked up Edmund's abandoned piece of paper. Glancing at it wistfully, she allowed the paper to slip through her fingers as she walked away. The paper fell gently to the ground facing upwards. Two words shimmered: 'Come Home.'


_**Narnia**_** – Lost**

By Allyson

(A/N – I don't own any of the characters from _Narnia_, C. S. Lewis does.)

It started under the soles of her feet before vibrating painfully up her body, causing her teeth to rattle and a dull ache to form in her lower jaw. Opening her eyes, Susan found that darkness still surrounded her like a heavy satin cloak. Touching a tentative hand to her head, she nearly jumped out of her skin at how icy cold her fingers were.

"Hello?" she called out. Her voiced echoed disturbingly around her ears. "Peter, where are you?"

Silence.

Teetering on a nauseous wave of vertigo, Susan slowly turned around.

"_Wrong way_," a whispered breeze ruffled her hair causing her to freeze.

"Peter?" she called out again, confused.

Silence.

After her heart had stopped hammering, Susan decided to try a different direction in the hope of hearing her brother's voice again. Turning again, she instead felt a warmth like a beam of sunshine, though it still remained dark as night.

Straightening her shoulders, Susan took a defiant step forwards . . .

. . . and found herself falling at a dizzying speed. She tried to scream but the cloying gloom clogged up her throat like cotton wool. Clawing at air, Susan despaired of finding any help to stop her descent.

An unseen hand of gravity grabbed at her, jerking her to a painful halt. Cool fresh air hit her lungs making her gasp in pain. Eyes wide, she looked up to find Edmund staring at her with sympathetic eyes. Even in her shocked state, something nagged at the back of her mind, telling her that something wasn't right.

Swallowing, Susan managed to ask, "Ed, what is going on? Where is everyone?"

Her younger brother inclined his head to one side as if he was trying to discover a hidden mystery within his sister's expression.

"Have you ever wondered what would happen if you stepped two paces left of what you considered normal?" Edmund asked her, cryptically.

Susan frowned, a headache creeping behind her eyes.

"You could go right and walk away from everyone who's waiting for you," he continued, though his hand pointed in the opposite direction. "Or . . . go left."

Susan stared at his hand that still pointed left until she realized that he was no longer in front of her. Like a light switch, she was plunged once more into darkness. Her dress caught around her legs as she struggled to her feet to face her intended direction.

"_Don't get lost_," Peter's voice teased from a distant spot in front of her.

Determinedly, Susan set off after her brother's voice. She would find Peter and unravel what was going on if it was the last thing she ever did. She felt like she'd been walking through the claustrophobic blackness for ever and a day. Whenever she paused for a rest, Peter's voice telling her not to drag her feet spurred her on again. Susan began to fear for her sanity. Could she really hear Peter? Or was it her over-taxed imagination tricking her into believing his voice was growing nearer?

The darkness seemed to seep into grey in a nearby corner. Edmund sat crossed legged, thick crayon in one hand, intent on drawing on the piece of stark white paper before him.

Curious, Susan approached him. "What are you doing, Edmund?"

"Drawing you a picture," Edmund responded, without looking up at her. He frowned in deep concentration.

"Can I look?"

Edmund nodded, solemnly, still bent over his work. Susan squatted down next to her brother but found that the paper was so dazzlingly white that she wasn't able to focus on it.

"What is it?" she asked, squinting.

"You have to look," Edmund persisted, enigmatically.

Feeling slightly irritated that she couldn't focus on the paper, Susan shook her head and got to her feet. "Ed, where's Peter and Lucy?"

"They're here," murmured Edmund, sounding almost downhearted.

Turning to face her brother, Susan found Edmund had once again disappeared. Sighing, Susan picked up his abandoned piece of paper. Glancing at it wistfully, she allowed the paper to slip through her fingers as she walked away. The paper fell gently to the ground face up, displaying the shimmering words: '_Come home_.'

The greyness now surrounding Susan seemed to lighten with every step she took. Her headache disappeared, her feet no longer felt sore, she felt warmer. Flashes of frozen images caught the corners of her eyes, disappearing quickly before she could turn and look at them properly. Vaguely recognizable people and places flickered by in a blink of an eye. Homesickness tugged at her heart. She wanted to be with her family . . .

"_Hurry up then_." Peter's voice whirled around her, causing a smile to tug at her lips at his impatient tone of voice.

With a sudden urge of energy, Susan picked up her skirts and began to run. She headed towards a break in the grey curtain surrounding her. Like the first rays of sun after a heavy rain shower, a beam of bright yellow was forcing away the shadows. Out of the brightness stepped a familiar figure.

"Lucy!" called out Susan, in surprise.

"I knew you'd find your way," Lucy grinned.

"_Took you long enough_."

Susan snapped her head around at the sound of her missing brother's voice from behind her.

"Su? Susan? Are you alright?"

Susan's eyes snapped wide open and she bolted upright with a gasp of pain at the sudden assault of light. Her older brother's worried eyes stared right back at her.

"Peter!" she exclaimed, before lunging forwards to hug him, almost choking him with her tight grip.

"Shh, it's alright," he soothed, patting her back.

"Are you alright, Su?" asked Lucy, worriedly. "You hit your head awfully hard."

Susan let go of her brother to find she was lying safe and sound on her bed, with Lucy, Edmund and Peter sitting around her.

"You're lucky you didn't break your neck the way you fell down those stairs," Edmund scolded her, worry radiating from his eyes.

Susan touched her head tentatively, feeling the lump forming under a bandage.

"You've been unconscious for a while," Peter told her, holding onto her hand. "You had us worried."

"I had a horrible dream," Susan murmured. "I was lost in darkness and I couldn't find you."

"You're fine now," Peter reassured her. "See? We're all here."

"I know," smiled Susan. "I knew I'd find you."

Peter gave her a puzzled smile.

"You weren't scared?" asked Lucy.

"A little," admitted Susan. "But all the time I could hear Peter in my head telling me what to do and scolding me when I did something wrong."

Peter looked hurt. "I'm not always like that," he protested.

Edmund nodded with a playful grin. "Yes, you are," he agreed. "It's what makes you Peter."

"And I'm grateful for that," added Susan, sincerely.

Peter looked like he wasn't sure if he should feel complimented or embarrassed. Lucy laughed at him as he cleared his throat.

Noticing that Susan was reluctant to go back to sleep even though she kept yawning, Edmund softly told her, "Don't worry, Su. We'll be here when you wake up. We won't leave you."

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you."

As she fell asleep, she took with her the voices of her siblings, keeping her safe from anymore dark-shadowed dreams.

The End.


End file.
